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. 2016 Aug 30;4(8):2325967116663921.
doi: 10.1177/2325967116663921. eCollection 2016 Aug.

The Financial and Professional Impact of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in National Football League Athletes

Eric S Secrist  1 , Suneel B Bhat  2 , Christopher C Dodson  2
Affiliations

The Financial and Professional Impact of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in National Football League Athletes

Eric S Secrist et al. Orthop J Sports Med. .

Abstract

Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries can have negative consequences on the careers of National Football League (NFL) players, however no study has ever analyzed the financial impact of these injuries in this population.

Purpose: To quantify the impact of ACL injuries on salary and career length in NFL athletes.

Study design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Any player in the NFL suffering an ACL injury from 2010 to 2013 was identified using a comprehensive online search. A database of NFL player salaries was used to conduct a matched cohort analysis comparing ACL-injured players with the rest of the NFL. The main outcomes were the percentage of players remaining in the NFL and mean salary at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years after injury. Cohorts were subdivided based on initial salary: group A, <$500,000; group B, ≤$500,000 to $2,000,000; and group C, >$2,000,000. Mean cumulative earnings were calculated by multiplying the percentage of players remaining in the league by their mean salaries and compounding this each season.

Results: NFL athletes suffered 219 ACL injuries from 2010 to 2013. The 7504 other player seasons in the NFL during this time were used as controls. Significantly fewer ACL-injured players than controls remained in the NFL at each time point (P < .05). In group A, significantly less ACL-injured players remained in the NFL at 1 to 3 seasons after injury (P < .05), and in group B, significantly less ACL-injured players remained in the NFL at 1 and 2 seasons after injury (P < .05). There was no significant decrease in group C. Players in groups A and B remaining in the NFL also had a lower mean salary than controls (P < .05 in season 1). The mean cumulative earnings over 4 years for ACL-injured players was $2,070,521 less per player than uninjured controls.

Conclusion: On average, ACL-injured players earned $2,070,521 less than salary-matched controls over the 4 years after injury. Players initially earning less than $2 million per year have lower mean salaries and are less likely to remain in the league than uninjured controls. The careers of players initially earning over $2 million per year, meanwhile, are not negatively affected. This demonstrates the degree of negative impact these injuries have on the careers of NFL players. It also indicates that a player's standing within the league before injury strongly influences how much an ACL injury will affect his career.

Keywords: ACL injury; American football; economics; professional sports; return to play.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this contribution.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percentage of total players in each salary group among (A) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)–injured players and (B) controls (the rest of the National Football League).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Percentage by season of (A) players who remained in the National Football League (NFL) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury compared with the rest of the NFL and (B-D) ACL-injured players in (B) group A (<$500,000), (C) group B ($500,000-$2,000,000), and (D) group C (>$2,000,000) who remained in the NFL compared with salary-matched controls.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Mean salary by season of (A) all anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)–injured players who remained in the National Football League (NFL) compared with the rest of the NFL and (B-D) ACL-injured players by initial salary: (B) <$500,000, (C) $500,000 to $2,000,000, and (D) >$2,000,000 compared with salary-matched controls.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Mean cumulative earnings by season of (A) all anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)–injured players as compared with the rest of the National Football League (NFL) and (B-D) ACL-injured players by initial salary: (B) <$500,000, (C) $500,000 to $2,000,000, and (D) >$2,000,000 compared with salary-matched controls.
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